Skip to content

Dominique Fils-Aimé Follows Her Heart and Own Rules

Search

Guided By Voices Tease New, Hi-Fi Version of Classic Track ‘I Am a Scientist’

Guided By Voices Tease New, Hi-Fi Version of Classic Track ‘I Am a Scientist’
Brenna Ehrlich
By Brenna EhrlichJul 30, 2024
Brenna Ehrlich
See Full Bio

It’s a fan-favorite on Guided By Voices’ epic set list, and, now, it’s getting a makeover. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Bee Thousand, GBV has re-recorded “I Am a Scientist” in hi-fi. The song drops on streaming Wednesday, and will also be available as a limited-edition seven-inch.

“The song and the album opened the door for me and allowed me to play rock music for a living,” GBV frontman Robert Pollard tells Rolling Stone. “To be able to do what I always wanted to do. And I’m still doing it. I’m still studying and analyzing myself and the world from the perspective of a songwriter.”

According to the Dayton, Ohio, singer-songwriter, the band — guitarist Doug Gillard, drummer Kevin March, bassist Mark Shue, and guitarist Bobby Bare Jr. — recorded an instrumental version of the track a few years back. The seven-inch also includes a re-recording of “Tractor Rape Chain.”

“They’re pretty true to the live renditions,” Pollard says. “I wrote ‘Scientist’ right around the time when we were recording songs for what was then a double album called Instructions to the Rusty Time Machine. It was edited down to Bee Thousand. ‘Tractor Rape Chain’ was the reworking of a much older song called ‘Tell Me.’ We used to play it live in the early Eighties.”

GBV most recently released Strut of Kings, their 17th album since 2017, on June 28.

Most Popular

Rolling Stone Québec Future of Music 2025
Lists

Rolling Stone Québec Future of Music 2025

NXNE Launches 30th Anniversary with Immersive Rock Odyssey
English

NXNE Launches 30th Anniversary with Immersive Rock Odyssey

On «Abracadabra», Klô Pelgag proves she still has the magic
Music

On «Abracadabra», Klô Pelgag proves she still has the magic

DNC Brings in Higher Ratings Than RNC All Four Nights
Politics

DNC Brings in Higher Ratings Than RNC All Four Nights

More Stories

Pierre Lapointe, Grand duke of broken souls

Cotton two-piece by Marni, SSENSE.com / Shirt from personal collection

Photographer Guillaume Boucher / Stylist Florence O. Durand / HMUA: Raphaël Gagnon / Producers: Malik Hinds & Billy Eff / Studio: Allô Studio

Pierre Lapointe, Grand duke of broken souls

Many years ago, while studying theatrical performance at Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe, Pierre Lapointe was given a peculiar exercise by his teacher. The students were asked to walk from one end of the classroom to the other while observing their peers. Based solely on their gait, posture, and gaze, they had to assign each other certain qualities, a character, or even a profession.

Lapointe remembers being told that there was something princely about him. That was not exactly the term that this young, queer student, freshly emancipated from the Outaouais region and marked by a childhood tinged with near-chronic sadness, would have instinctively chosen for himself. Though he had been unaware of his own regal qualities, he has spent more than 20 years trying to shed this image, one he admits he may have subtly cultivated in his early days.

Keep ReadingShow less
Fact Checkers Try to Shield Trump From Project 2025’s Abortion Madness

Fact Checkers Try to Shield Trump From Project 2025’s Abortion Madness

One of the odder features of American journalism is that the columnists who hold themselves out as “fact checkers” and review claims made by politicians — calling balls, strikes, and “pinocchios” — are unusually terrible at it.

Fact checkers offered up several botched reviews of content from the Democratic National Convention, but nothing has broken their brains like Democrats’ sustained attacks on Donald Trump over Republicans’ anti-abortion agenda, which is laid out in gory detail in conservatives’ Project 2025 policy roadmap. 

Keep ReadingShow less
Cops Who Falsified Warrant Used in Breonna Taylor Raid Didn’t Cause Her Death, Judge Rules

Cops Who Falsified Warrant Used in Breonna Taylor Raid Didn’t Cause Her Death, Judge Rules

A federal judge in Kentucky ruled that two police officers accused of falsifying a warrant ahead of the deadly raid that killed Breonna Taylor were not responsible for her death, The Associated Press reports. And rather than the phony warrant, U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson said Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was responsible for her death because he fired upon the police officers first — even though he had no idea they were police officers.

The ruling was handed down earlier this week in the civil rights violation case against former Louisville Police Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany. The two were not present at the March 2020 raid when Taylor was killed. Instead, in 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland accused the pair (along with another detective, Kelly Goodlett) of submitting a false affidavit to search Taylor’s home before the raid and then conspiring to create a “false cover story… to escape responsibility” for preparing the phony warrant. 

Keep ReadingShow less
Queens of the Stone Age Cancel Remaining 2024 Shows After Josh Homme Surgery

Queens of the Stone Age Cancel Remaining 2024 Shows After Josh Homme Surgery

Queens of the Stone Age have canceled the remainder of their 2024 tour dates — including a string of North American shows and festival gigs scheduled for the fall — as Josh Homme continues his recovery from an unspecified surgery he underwent in July.

“QOTSA regret to announce the cancellation and/or postponement of all remaining 2024 shows. Josh has been given no choice but to prioritize his health and to receive essential medical care through the remainder of the year,” the band wrote on social media.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sabrina Carpenter Is Viscously Clever and Done With Love Triangles on ‘Short N’ Sweet’: 5 Takeaways

Sabrina Carpenter Is Viscously Clever and Done With Love Triangles on ‘Short N’ Sweet’: 5 Takeaways

After Sabrina Carpenter’s summer takeover with “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” the anticipation for Short n’ Sweet was at an all-time high. On her sixth album, the pop singer keeps the surprises coming as she delivers a masterclass in clever songwriting and hops between R&B and folk-pop with ease. Carpenter writes about the frustration of modern-day romance, all the while cementing herself as a pop classic. Here’s everything we gathered from the new project.

Please Please Please Don’t Underestimate Her Humor

Carpenter gave us a glimpse of her humor on singles “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” — she’s working late because she’s a singer; ceiling fans are a pretty great invention! But no one could have guessed how downright hilarious she is on Short n’ Sweet, delivering sugary quips like “The Lord forgot my gay awakenin’” (“Slim Pickins”) and “How’s the weather in your mother’s basement?” (“Needless to Say”). She’s also adorably nerdy, fretting about grammar (“This boy doesn’t even know/The difference between ‘there,’ ‘their’ and ‘they are!’”) and getting Shakespearian (“Where art thou? Why not uponeth me?”). On “Juno,” she even takes a subject as serious as pregnancy and twists it into a charming pop culture reference for the ages: “If you love me right, then who knows?/I might let you make me Juno.” It’s official: Do not underestimate Ms. Carpenter’s pen. — A.M.

Keep ReadingShow less